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Maurer, Ion Gheorghe

Maurer, Ion Gheorghe yôn gāôr´gā [key], 1902–2000, Romanian statesman. A lawyer, he defended Romanian Communists in the 1930s and later became (1945) a member of the central committee of the Communist party. In the postwar decades he was minister of economic affairs (1946–47), minister of industry and trade (1947–48), foreign minister (1957–58), and chairman of the presidium of the national assembly (1958–61). In 1961 he became chairman of the council of ministers, or premier. An intimate of Nicolae Ceauşescu , Maurer supported Romania's nationalist and independent policy. He curtailed his activities after a serious car accident in 1970 and resigned as premier in 1974.